Trump administration withdraws US from European anti-corruption watchdog GRECO

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration has withdrawn the United States from a top European anti-corruption watchdog as it forges ahead with plans to disengage from international and multilateral organizations that it accuses of exceeding their mandates, being inefficient or not adapting to U.S. policies.

The Council of Europe said Tuesday that the U.S. formally notified it that it would leave the Group of States against Corruption, or GRECO. Only two other countries have left GRECO before — Russia and Belarus.

A U.S. official confirmed the withdrawal and said it had been submitted on Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm the move ahead of a public announcement from the State Department.

“The United States has participated in GRECO since 2000 and has been a valuable contributor to its work and to the exchange of experience and good practice in preventing and combating corruption,” the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe said in a statement. “GRECO remains open to resuming cooperation with the United States in the future in support of shared efforts to prevent corruption, strengthen integrity and uphold the rule of law.”

The decision was announced a week after the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the U.S. had declined to invite its members to observe November’s congressional midterm elections, a sharp break from past practice.

The U.S. has already withdrawn from a number of European-based U.N. and multilateral agencies, including the World Health Organization and the U.N. Human Rights Council, and is weighing further such steps.

The U.S. withdrew in January from another Council of Europe panel — the Venice Commission, which is an advisory body on constitutional law.

GRECO was created in 1999 by the Council of Europe to monitor compliance with the organization’s anti-corruption standards. Membership is not limited to European Union members, and the United States joined a year after its founding.